Richard Branson Trivia | 88 facts about the business man

Richard Branson is an English business magnate, adventurer, investor, author, and commercial astronaut. He launched into space for approximately one hour.

Let’s dive into some trivia and facts about his life and career thus far as well as his many achievements.

1. His full name is Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson
2. He was born 18 July 1950
3. He is an English business magnate, adventurer, investor, author, and commercial astronaut
4. In the 1970s he founded the Virgin Group, which today controls more than 400 companies in various fields
5. Branson expressed his desire to become an entrepreneur at a young age
6. His first business venture, at the age of 16, was a magazine called Student
7. In 1970, he set up a mail-order record business
8. He opened a chain of record stores, Virgin Records, in 1972
9. Later known as Virgin Megastores
10. Branson’s Virgin brand grew rapidly during the 1980s
11. Then, he started Virgin Atlantic airline and expanded the Virgin Records music label
12. In 1997, Branson founded the Virgin Rail Group to bid for rail franchises in the United Kingdom during the privatisation of British Rail
13. Virgin Trains operated the InterCity West Coast franchise from 1997 to 2019, the InterCity CrossCountry franchise from 1997 to 2007, and the InterCity East Coast franchise from 2015 to 2018
14. In 2004, he founded spaceflight corporation Virgin Galactic
15. This spaceflight corporation is based at Mojave Air and Space Port in California
16. It is noted for the SpaceShipTwo suborbital spaceplane designed for space tourism
17. In March 2000, Branson was knighted at Buckingham Palace for “services to entrepreneurship”
18. For his work in retail, music and transport (with interests in land, air, sea and space travel), his taste for adventure, and for his humanitarian work, he has become a prominent global figure
19. In 2007, he was placed in the Time 100 Most Influential People in the World list
20. In July 2021, Forbes listed Branson’s estimated net worth at US$5.7 billion
21. On 11 July 2021, Branson launched into space as part of a test flight for his company, Virgin Galactic
22. The mission lasted approximately one hour
23. Branson was born in Blackheath, London, to Eve Branson, a former ballet dancer and air hostess, and Edward James Branson, a barrister
24. He has two younger sisters, Lindy Branson and Vanessa Branson
25. His grandfather, Sir George Arthur Harwin Branson, was a judge of the High Court of Justice and a Privy Councillor
26. His third great-grandfather, John Edward Branson, left England for India in 1793
27. John Edward’s father, Harry Wilkins Branson, later joined him in Madras
28. From 1793, four generations of his family were at Cuddalore
29. On the show Finding Your Roots, Branson was shown to have 3.9% South Asian (Indian) DNA, likely through intermarriage
30. Later, he claimed that one of his great-grandmothers was an Indian named Ariya
31. Branson was educated at Scaitcliffe School, a prep school in Surrey, before briefly attending Cliff View House School in Sussex
32. He attended Stowe School, an independent school in Buckinghamshire until the age of sixteen
33. Branson has dyslexia, and had poor academic performance; on his last day at school, his headmaster, Robert Drayson, told him he would either end up in prison or become a millionaire
34. Branson’s parents were supportive of his endeavours from an early age
35. His mother was an entrepreneur; one of her most successful ventures was building and selling wooden tissue boxes and wastepaper bins
36. In London, he started off squatting from 1967 to 1968
37. Branson made several world record-breaking attempts after 1985, when in the spirit of the Blue Riband he attempted the fastest Atlantic Ocean crossing
38. His first attempt in the “Virgin Atlantic Challenger” led to the boat capsizing in British waters and a rescue by RAF helicopter, which received wide media coverage
39. Some newspapers called for Branson to reimburse the government for the rescue cost
40. In 1986, in his “Virgin Atlantic Challenger II”, with sailing expert Daniel McCarthy, he beat the record by two hours
41. A year later his hot air balloon “Virgin Atlantic Flyer” crossed the Atlantic
42. In January 1991, Branson crossed the Pacific from Japan to Arctic Canada, 6,700 miles (10,800 km), in a balloon of 2,600,000 cubic feet (74,000 m3)
43. This broke the record, with a speed of 145 miles per hour (233 km/h)
44. Between 1995 and 1998, Branson, Per Lindstrand, Vladimir Dzhanibekov, Larry Newman, and Steve Fossett made attempts to circumnavigate the globe by balloon
45. In late 1998, they made a record-breaking flight from Morocco to Hawaii but were unable to complete a global flight before Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones in Breitling Orbiter 3 in March 1999
46. In March 2004, Branson set a record by travelling from Dover to Calais in a Gibbs Aquada in 1 hour, 40 minutes and 6 seconds, the fastest crossing of the English Channel in an amphibious vehicle
47. The previous record of six hours was set by two Frenchmen
48. The cast of Top Gear, Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond, attempted to break this record in an amphibious vehicle which they had constructed and, while successfully crossing the channel, did not break Branson’s record
49. After being intercepted by the Coast Guard and asked what their intentions were, Clarkson remarked “…our intentions are to go across the Channel faster than ‘Beardy’ Branson!”
50. The Coast Guard wished them ‘Good luck and Bon Voyage’
51. In September 2008, Branson and his children made an unsuccessful attempt at an eastbound record crossing of the Atlantic Ocean under sail in the 99-foot (30 m) sloop Virgin Money
52. The boat, also known as Speedboat, is owned by NYYC member Alex Jackson, who was a co-skipper on this passage, with Branson and Mike Sanderson
53. After two days, four hours, winds of force 7 to 9 (strong gale), and seas of 40 feet (12 m), a ‘monster wave’ destroyed the spinnaker, washed a ten-man life raft overboard and severely ripped the mainsail
54. The sloop eventually continued to St. George’s, Bermuda
55. In 1992, Branson received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement
56. In 1993, Branson was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Technology from Loughborough University
57. In the New Years Honours list dated 30 December 1999, Elizabeth II signified her intention to confer the honour of Knight Bachelor on him for his “services to entrepreneurship”
58. He was knighted by Charles, Prince of Wales on 30 March 2000 at an investiture in Buckingham Palace
59. Also in 2000, Branson received the Tony Jannus Award for his accomplishments in commercial air transportation
60. In 2000, Branson was inducted into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame at the San Diego Air & Space Museum
61. Branson appears at No. 85 on the 2002 list of 100 Greatest Britons on the BBC and voted for by the public
62. Branson was also ranked in 2007’s Time magazine’s list of the 100 Most Influential People in The World
63. On 7 December 2007, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon presented Branson with the United Nations Correspondents Association Citizen of the World Award for his support for environmental and humanitarian causes
64. On 24 January 2011, Branson was awarded the German Media Prize (organised by “Media Control Charts”), previously handed to former US president Bill Clinton and the Dalai Lama
65. On 14 November 2011, Branson was awarded the ISTA Prize by the International Space Transport Association in The Hague for his pioneering achievements in the development of suborbital transport systems with “Virgin Galactic”
66. On 11 February 2012, Branson was honoured with the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences’ President’s Merit Award for his contributions to the music industry
67. On 2 June 2013, Branson received an honorary degree of Doctor Honoris Causa from Kaunas Technology University in Kaunas, Lithuania
68. On 15 May 2014, Branson received the 2014 Business for Peace Award, awarded annually by the Business for Peace Foundation in Oslo, Norway
69. On 21 September 2014, Branson was recognized by The Sunday Times as the most admired business person over the last five decades
70. On 9 October 2014, Branson was named as the No. 1 LGBT ally by the OUTstanding organisation
71. On 29 October 2015, Branson was listed by UK-based company Richtopia at number 1 in the list of 100 Most Influential British Entrepreneurs
72. In October 2015, Branson received the International Crisis Group Chairman’s Award at the United Nations Development Programme’s in Pursuit of Peace Awards Dinner
73. Branson married Kristen Tomassi in 1972
74. They were divorced in 1979
75. He has a daughter Holly and a son Sam with his second wife, Joan Templeman
76. They met in 1976
77. They were married in 1989 on Necker Island
78. He stated in an interview with Piers Morgan that he and Joan also had a daughter named Clare Sarah
79. She died when she was four days old in 1979
80. In 2007 Branson was ordained as a minister by the Universal Life Church Monastery to conduct an on-flight wedding as part of a marketing effort for domestic flights in the USA on Virgin America airline
81. From 2013 to 2017 Branson served as President of the Old Stoic Society of Stowe School
82. Branson is also an experienced kitesurfer, holding some world records in the sport
83. In August 2016 Branson was injured while riding his bicycle in the British Virgin Islands and suffered torn ligaments and a cracked cheek as a result
84. He was taken to hospital in Miami for X-rays and scans
85. In 2017 Branson’s Necker Island home was left uninhabitable after Hurricane Irma
86. It was the second time the Necker Island home had been severely damaged after the building caught fire when it was struck by lightning caused by Hurricane Irene in 2011
87. Branson’s mother Eve died, from COVID-19 complications, in January 2021, at the age of 96
88. A celebration of her life was posted online by her son